Last week California enacted bold new legislation to increase the funds available in tax credits for studios and production companies to film in California. The legislation was championed by governor Gavin Newsom as being essential in the effort to keep production in California, especially in the Los Angeles area.
While these additional credits are being celebrated by film industry leaders, it is unclear whether they will be sufficient to stem the tide of studios bugging out of the Golden State for lower-cost alternatives such as Georgia and New York within the U.S. and Ireland and the United Kingdom outside the country.
The stakes are high, as a significant portion of California’s economy is tied to the production of shooting. Entertainment journalist Matt Belloni was joined on his THE TOWN podcast by Joe Chianese, the Senior Vice President of film finance company Entertainment Partners, to discuss who will benefit from the new tax incentives.